


a battle for two

by SidewaysClarinet



Category: Ao no Exorcist | Blue Exorcist
Genre: ALso characters are aged up bc I don't like children adventuring alone, Also a slowburn romance!!, Alternate Universe - Pokemon, Friends to Lovers, I have never written a true slowburn romance so please pardon me, It's a pokemon au babey!!!, M/M, Pokemon Journey, Pokemon SoulSilver Version, makes me nervous
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-21
Updated: 2020-12-26
Packaged: 2021-03-11 03:34:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,727
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28218537
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SidewaysClarinet/pseuds/SidewaysClarinet
Summary: At nineteen years old, Suguro Ryuji is finally ready to set off on his cross-country adventure to gather all of Johto's gym badges with his partners-in-crime, Shima Renzou and Miwa Konekomaru. There are so many sights to see, battles to be had, and people to meet! The most interesting person Ryuji finds himself meeting is none other than a mysterious boy by the name of Rin, who bears bright smiles and mysterious eyes everywhere he goes.Suddenly, Ryuji finds himself with two missions on his journey; to beat the League, and to figure out what exactly is up with this mysterious guy.
Relationships: Okumura Rin/Suguro "Bon" Ryuuji
Comments: 25
Kudos: 30
Collections: Ao no Exorcist Secret Santa 2020





	1. violet city

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Jeiidaan](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jeiidaan/gifts).



> This is my secret santa for Jeiidaan! i love you and i would die for u <3
> 
> Hope you all enjoy!

[ Choose your Pokemon! ]

[ Chikorita / Totodile / Cyndaquil ]

Ryuji frowned to himself, picking at his nails so hard that he barely even noticed that he was seconds from bleeding all over the lab. It was a hard choice to make! This first pokemon was going to be his companion for his entire journey (unless they sucked really bad), and he didn’t want to make the wrong choice. There were so many things for him to consider: typing, leveling, attacks, temperaments… it was something that required a lot of thought, and for some reason, he was doubting the last three months of pondering and planning that he had been putting into this.

He knew that Chikorita would be the wrong choice to make. The poor thing was cute as all hell and seemed to be the most mature out of its companions, but God, the typing! A grass pokemon to go up against the first three gyms? He couldn’t, he’d be doomed to stay in New Bark Town for the rest of his life. 

Likewise, he knew Totodile wouldn’t be a fantastic choice either. Sure, it was strong and cool, but there weren’t any gyms that it would do good against, and a fair number that it would be weak against. He reluctantly turned away from it, and towards Cyndaquil. 

But… the poor thing was sleeping…

“Bon, come on!” Renzou sighed from behind him, sounding exasperated. “We’ve been here for like, twenty minutes! Let’s gooooooo!”

Ryuji turned around to snap at him, but Professor Nagatomo was quick to his aid. The older man gave a patient smile, stepping in between the two of them as Renzou childishly stuck his tongue out. “Easy, Renzou, give him some time! Choosing your companion is always a tough decision to make.”

“Must be nice gettin’ to choose,” Renzou huffed. 

At that, Ryuji felt his irritation ease. Renzou was right; Ryuji got to choose his own partner, but Growlithe had been forced on to his friend by his father and brothers. The entire Shima family was expected to raise strong Growlithe partners, and Renzou was no exception.

“Alright, alright, I’ll get goin’,” Ryuji sighed, ignoring the sigh of relief from Renzou as well as Konekomaru’s amused laugh. “Just gimme a sec.”

Okay, fast decision time.

[ Choose your Pokemon! ]

[ Chikorita / Totodile / **Cyndaquil** ]

A fire type was definitely the best decision to make, under the circumstances. He leaned down next to the table a bit, looking the Cyndaquil in the eyes. It squeaked at him, somehow aware that it had been chosen, and toddled a bit closer to him. He smiled, reaching hands out to gather the little thing up, but to his surprise, it leapt up from the table and promptly crawled up onto his shoulder.

“Oh-!” He tried to hold himself as still as possible as Cyndaquil scaled his shoulder and nosed its way into his hair, before settling down onto his slicked-back mohawk. Ryuji looked up at Professor Nagatomo, eyes wide, only to see the professor barely holding back laughter. “Huh?”

Professor Nagatomo cleared his throat as a diversion, but his cheeks were still red with barely contained giggles. “Cyndaquil is, ahem.. quite a bit smaller than most of her kind. Because of that, she’s developed a sort of, uhm, fixation with climbing.”

“Really,” Ryuji said, dryly, looking up at the snoozing pokemon on his head. He rolled his eyes and straightened as carefully as he could, trying to keep the little thing balanced carefully on his head. 

“Hey, it’s better than barking,” Renzou pointed out.

Konekomaru nodded, adding on, “Or scratching up your legs!”

“Yeah, you’re right,” Ryuji chuckled. “Guess it ain’t too bad. Anythin’ else I need to know?”

“Nope, you should be good to go!” Professor Nagatomo said cheerfully. “You’re all already set up with packs? You said goodbye to your parents?”

“Yup,” Renzou chirped. Ryuji and Konekomaru nodded along with him, and the older man’s smile widened.

“Then you’re all set to go!”

“Ah, hold up! Nagatomo!”

Suddenly, another figure crashed through the door. It was a boy about their age, with almost blue-looking hair that seemed to be making up a rat’s nest on his hair as he stumbled through the lab, dodging around the scientists and throwing apologies behind him. He screeched to a halt before Professor Nagatomo and their small group, giving a sheepish salute to the professor as he did so. Ryuji couldn’t help but think that it looked like he’d come running straight out of bed.

“Hey! Sorry I’m late!” the boy said, grin wide and breathless. “I kinda got lost on my way here. These routes are kinda confusing!”

“Well, they wouldn’t be so confusing if you had a map,” Professor Nagatomo said wryly, pulling a town map from his pocket and handing it over to the grateful looking boy. “And while you’re here, Rin, I’d like you to meet Ryuji, Konekomaru, and Renzou.”

[ Introduce yourself? ]

[ Yes / No ]

Ryuji looked at the choice a bit oddly. Why wouldn’t he? 

[ **Yes** / No ]

“Ryuji Suguro,” he said, reaching a hand out to the boy. Rin took up his offer with a surprisingly strong grip, and grinned up at Ryuji.

“Nice to meet you!” he replied cheerfully. “You chose Cyndaquil, then? Sick! Fire types are the best, that’s awesome!”

Before Ryuji could really even respond, Rin was backing up and away, instead turning to introduce himself to both Konekomaru and Renzou. He did think to himself, however, that Rin and Renzou were sure to get along like gasoline and a lit match. He chuckled to himself at the comparison, still smiling when Rin stepped up to the table to choose from what was left. To his surprise, Rin didn’t hesitate before picking Totodile up from the table.

“Him!” Rin chirped, holding his Totodile up excitedly as it crowed at him in response. “He looks sick as hell.”

“Him?” Ryuji couldn’t help but ask. Rin looked at him, confused, and he elaborated. “He ain’t gonna do too well against those first two gyms, y’know? Or, well, any of ‘em.”

Rin made a little ‘oh’ shape with his mouth, looking back up at Totodile. After a few seconds, though, his mouth twisted up into a grin, and he hugged the pokemon to his chest. “It’s cool! We’ll kick ass anyways, I just know it!”

Ryuji snickered at that. “Well, I guess attitude makes the trainer. Good luck, dude.”

“Thanks!” 

“Well, now that that’s all figured out,” Professor Nagatomo cut in, looking fondly at them all. “You’re all free to go. Don’t forget to say goodbye to your parents before you leave, alright?”

“Sure thing!” 

“Gotcha!”

“Yup!”

“Cool.”

* * *

The trip to Violet City was a scenic and rather peaceful one. Neither Renzou’s, nor Konekomaru’s, nor Ryuji’s family had allowed them near Route 29, so to be able to see it more than just from afar was invigorating. They had a long journey ahead of them, filled with sightseeing and wild pokemon battles and even trainers to try their strength against. 

His friends had previously made fun of him for stashing up for their first journey across the continent, but they were certainly grateful for it when a fight left their pokemon near depleted. He had plenty of potions and even a handful of repels prepared for whatever lower level pokemon they didn’t have the time or energy for. All in all, it was a calming trip, and Ryuji was glad to finally be free of his parents’ watchful eyes. He knew without really knowing that both Konekomaru and Renzou felt the same. 

Renzou had said it best- “It’s nice to just have a boys’ trip!” And all in all, he had been right so far.

Violet City, when they finally arrived there after a few days spent camping and walking, was almost as beautiful as the forests they had walked through. It was surrounded by trees on all sides, and carried the sweet scent of pine and herbs. It was a peaceful sort of place, where the soft lapping of the lake and the creaking of the Sprout Tower could be heard wherever you went. They enjoyed a quick lunch by the lake before they made any more decisions, enjoying the thrill of being nineteen and finally out of their home village.

[ Challenge the gym? ]

[ Yes / No ]

Sitting at the lake side, he had been pondering the choice for a few hours. The first gym leader they had to face was Beelzebub, and he knew from research and word of mouth that Beelzebub was a bug type leader. His pokemon weren’t particularly strong—they were perfectly appropriate for a first gym—but he definitely did have the advantage in higher leveling. He and Renzou had an equalling advantage with their fire type starters, but Konekomaru…

“Maybe we should go train first,” he suggested, around a mouthful of sandwich. Both Konekomaru and Renzou looked up at him curiously. He swallowed before continuing again. “Shima ‘n I will do fine, but Koneko, you might wanna try training your Meowth a bit. I could stand to get to learn Cyndaquil a bit better, too.”

He’d gotten a good start with his partner over the few days that they had been traveling. Cyndaquil was an excessively sleepy pokemon, and it had been a pain in the ass to convince her to fight against the wild pokemon in the grass, but Konekomaru had helped him figure out that she was perfectly willing to train if Ryuji offered her naps and head rides as a reward. It was a weird system, to be sure, but he was curious to see how much he could use it to his advantage.

“That sounds like a good idea,” Konekomaru said, nodding his head. 

“But so much work!” Renzou complained, leaning back on his elbows. “C’mon, the two of us already have a type advantage, we could go ahead and beat the guy then tell Koneko what to expect!”

“His pokemon are gonna be at least in the double digits,” Ryuji pointed out. “Plus, how embarrassin’ would it be if your brothers found out you lost against the first gym?”

Renzou eyes widened, and then abruptly narrowed as he caught on. “That was a dirty trick, Bon, a dirty, dirty trick. You’re evil.”

He only shrugged, fighting down a grin as he finished off the rest of his meal. Renzou was rather similar to pokemon, in a way. He was difficult to figure out and aggravating when you didn’t know what to do with him, but pretty easy to handle once you had a way of motivating him. Ryuji had since found that dirty magazines and threats to tell his brothers about his embarrassing secrets were pretty consistent ways to get him up and moving.

After that, they decided to split up to get their individual needs handled. Konekomaru wanted to explore the Sprout Tower and train his Meowth there, while Renzou had finally realized how horribly unprepared he was for a gym battle and finally went to go stock up at the mart. Ryuji decided that the trainers’ school was the best place to check out, both to brush up on his knowledge and also to hear what the local word was on Beelzebub.

This was where he found Rin again. He wasn’t expecting to see the guy there, but as soon as he stepped into the trainers’ school, there Rin was, enraptured by the few children in the building who seemed to be explaining typing to him. The older students were watching, amused, though the room seemed to look up as Ryuji joined them.

“Oh, Ryuji!” Rin grinned as soon as his eyes landed on Ryuji, and he waved a hand excitedly. Ryuji gave him a more muted wave back. “They’re explaining all the types and stuff! I see what you mean about Beelbub and all, the guy totally has a leg up on me!”

“Beelzebub?” Ryuji corrected wryly, stepping up towards the group and leaning against the desk just by them. “And did ya really not know this stuff? It’s pretty basic, y’know.”

Rin’s grin fell just a bit. “Ah, yeah. I kinda grew up under a rock I guess? So all of this is new to me!”

“Oh, well, sorry ‘bout that. I shouldn’ta said anything,” Ryuji apologized, then looked at where the kids were waiting eagerly for Rin to pay attention to their lecture again. “Well, don’t skip out on class for me.”

Rin’s eyes widened, and he seemed to realize that yes, the group of girls in front of him were nearly buzzing with the excitement of explaining what they had learned. When they had his attention back, they didn’t hesitate to continue on with their lecture, moving on past the basic water-grass-fire trio and into the more complex types. Ryuji had to admit that he was impressed when they got to the section of electric and ground—they explained scientific concepts that had taken him a few months to learn!

“So, feel like you understand the types and all better?” Ryuji asked him, hours later when they were finally freed from the trainers’ school and their overeager students.

“Yeah!” Rin’s eyes were wide, sparkling and ocean-like in their blueness as he clutched his notes tighter in his hands. “Man, I never woulda guessed that psychic types would do so well against fighting! It’s weird, and like, I don’t get it? But I get it?”

At that, Ryuji couldn’t help but chuckle. “Well, ‘s long as you remember it, you’ll be fine. Battles ain’t too hard when you know how to manipulate types ‘n all.”

“Right! So if I wanna beat this Beelbub-”

“Beelzebub.”

“-Beelzebub guy, Totodile isn’t gonna do much, is he?” Rin finished, looking up at Ryuji.

“Well, he can, but he’ll be pretty hard pressed,” Ryuji explained. “It ain’t impossible to beat a type disadvantage, but it’s gonna be hard. Your best bet is getting another partner to help out, or leveling up your Totodile as much as ya can.”

Rin nodded, and Ryuji understood then why the young girls were so excited to teach him. Sure, he was a little slow, and more than a little clueless, but he seemed more than eager to learn about pokemon and all they had to offer. He soaked up new information like a sponge—maybe not very efficiently, but he sure did soak it up.

“Well, I gotta start headin’,” Ryuji said, after a minute. “Koneko and Renzou will probably be pushin’ me to get started on Beelzebub so they can slack off in the lake again. See ya later?”

“Yeah, see you later!” Rin gave him another wave and a grin as he left, and Ryuji watched him head straight for Route 31. 

He hoped Rin made it past this first gym. For some reason, even though he’d only talked to the guy twice, he knew that Rin had some sort of energy that caught and spread like a virus. Rin was engaging to be around, and Ryuji hoped that he would see him again.

For now, though, he had a gym battle to fight.

[ Challenge the gym? ]

[ **Yes** / No ]

* * *

Beelzebub: Pineco (level 13), Caterpie (level 9)


	2. azalea town

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi hi! Happy late Christmas to those of you who celebrate!

[ Capture Ekans? ]

With a soft shake of his head, Ryuji let the Ekans slither away with its proverbial tail between its legs, and instead turned his attention to Cyndaquil. She was butting up against his legs, impatient to be picked up, and he affectionately indulged her. She was getting a little big to be climbing in his hair now, but she could (and promptly did) fit rather easily onto his shoulders. He handed her a little piece of his granola bar, and they both munched on it as they returned back to where he, Konekomaru and Renzou had set up camp.

Renzou was busy warming up to the Aipom that he’d captured just the day before, offering it treats and head scratches and everything that was going to spoil the little pokemon silly. He’d caught it entirely by accident, really; it had just happened to fall down from its tree at the sound of their voice, and Renzou had yelled and leaped for it. He’d wanted an Aipom for years, and wasted no time in capturing the poor thing.

Ryuji watched the two of them as he sat down in the little clearing they had appropriated, unable to keep his smile back. Spoiled though the Aipom would be, at least Renzou was happy. His entire face was lit up, and his attention was only dragged away from his new Pokemon by Ryuji’s arrival.

“You not gonna catch a new partner?” Renzou asked him, finally looking up from the little monkey pokemon in his lap. “Koneko’s already out trying to get himself a Hoothoot, y’know.”

Ryuji shrugged. “Nah, haven’t really seen anythin’ I wanted. Plus, I wanna balance my team out ‘n all. These guys are just normal types.”

“So analytical,” Renzou hummed. He turned his attention down to Aipom, and his voice promptly picked up an octave or two. “Isn’t he? He’s just so analytical! What a worrywart! He’s such a worrywart, isn’t he?”

Ryuji laughed at his ridiculousness, but Aipom was totally eating it up. She was reaching up to Renzou’s fingers with grabby little paws, and Renzou cooed down at her, tickling her paws and dancing just out of her reach. Ryuji watched the two of them play while he waited for Konekomaru to come back, absolutely entertained.

As soon as Konekomaru did come back, they would be heading off to Azalea Town for their next gym challenge. Ryuji had already made sure that they were all packed and prepared to go, which left him with little more to do than wait for his other friend to be ready to go. They’d already spent the last couple days of their trip training up for their next gym, because though it would be an easy fight against Amaimon and his grass types, there was still the next gym with Astaroth and his poison pokemon. Better to get a head start now than wait for the last minute.

Eventually, Konekomaru did come charging back up to the camp, excitedly brandishing a pokeball in his hands and a grin on his face. He wasted no time in showing them the Hoothoot that he had caught, gushing about how he’d have to acclimate the pokemon to his Meowth, and how he sure did hope the two would get along because he’d been wanting a Hoothoot for so long!

Soon after that, they packed up what little remained of their camp, and started their trek down Route 33. As the last leg of their trip, they really didn’t have much longer to go—it would just take the rest of the day, so long as they didn’t get too distracted by trainer battles or wild pokemon. As Renzou and Konekomaru were satisfied with their new partners, he knew that wild pokemon shouldn’t be too hard to drag them away from wild pokemon, but trainer battles were a whole other thing.

People around here were so dogmatic with battles! It was nothing like New Bark Town, where battles were only had between willing participants. No, out here, people seemed to charge ahead into fights without any respect paid to their opponents. Ryuji couldn’t help but think that it was terribly rude, especially considering that they were visibly new trainers. The veterans just seemed determined to rob them blind!

They had to sneak around other trainers before, but thankfully, the coast seemed to be mostly clear this time. It wasn’t too difficult to make it all the way to Azalea Town, which left them more of an opportunity to check out the scenery in the meantime. It only served as a reminder to Ryuji that they had made the right choice in leaving New Bark Town to explore the world— there was so much to see and so much to do.

It didn’t take much longer for Azalea Town to finally come into view. He could see the road sign just up ahead, pointing to where the path through the trees took a sharp right turn. The three of them were visibly relieved at the sight of town, because town meant food, people, and somewhere to rest that wasn’t a shaky tent in the (sometimes eerie) night.

Just up ahead, he could see a dip in the ground, obviously some sort of trench or something along those lines. There was a figure there, someone with dark hair and a melancholy tilt to their shoulders. As they got closer, Ryuji could see that it was a guy, and after a second, that it was no one other than Rin.

He moved to raise his hand and call out to the other teen, but something made him stop. The tension in Rin’s shoulders only became more noticable and pronounced the closer they got, and Ryuji could see that he was staring down into the trench. He racked his mind for what could possibly be important about the trench, but the only thing he could think that would be there would be the Slowpoke Well. Was there something there that was significant to Rin?

“Yo, is that Rin?” Renzou murmured, squinting at the other boy’s figure. Before Ryuji could tell him to stop— though for what reason, he didn’t know why— Renzou was already calling out to him. “Rin! Hey, dude! How’d you beat us here?”

Rin’s shoulders jumped as his name was called, and he looked up from the well. Whatever had been dragging him down before abruptly disappeared; all that Ryuji could see on his face when he turned was a cheerful smile.

“Hey, you guys!” Rin shouted right back, waving his hand wildly. “Haha, guess you three are just slow!”

“Slow my ass,” Renzou snorted, as soon as they were close enough to the other teen to speak at a normal volume. “Maybe you’re just freakish. You thought about that?”

He didn’t respond to that, and instead abruptly turned to Ryuji. “No new pokemon for you?”

“Huh?” Ryuji blinked, confused, and then he realized that both Renzou and Konekomaru had their pokeballs at their waist, same as him. They both had two displayed, whereas Ryuji only had his one. “Ah, yeah. Didn’t see anythin’ I wanted to put the effort into.”

“Well, I did! I saw a Meowth and thought, ‘Hey! This one looks like the one that Konekomaru has! I should snatch it right up!’” Rin said, adding a cartoonish little flare to his recollection. 

He grabbed the third ball from his waist and held it out, letting a Meowth jump forward and out from it. To Ryuji’s shock, the coat of the Meowth was pure black, and it had great big green eyes that peered up at all three of them as it gave a little greeting.

“His name is Kuro!” Rin said, proudly. “I dunno if he’s shiny or whatever, but I think he’s super cute!”

“He is!” Konekomaru agreed, excitedly kneeling down to scratch just beneath the Meowth’s chin. “What a cute little thing! You’re so pretty!”

“He is pretty cool,” Ryuji said a little wryly, looking down as his friend gushed over the uniquely colored Meowth. Renzou was curious as well, and kneeled down to join Konekomaru, leaving Rin and Ryuji to be the only two standing.

[ Ask Rin about his behavior? ]

[ Yes / No ]

Would it be polite? Ryuji’s mind seemed to whir a hundred miles a minute, trying to quickly decide what the best course of action was. Sure, it would be kind to ask Rin if anything was bothering him, but would it be rude to pry? Would Rin take it as Ryuji demanding to know what he was thinking, or to know his private business?

[ Ask Rin about his behavior? ]

Fuck it. Worst case scenario, Rin would just blow him off and never ask again. 

[ **Yes** / No ]

“Hey,” he started, a bit hesitant. “I saw you starin’ at the well earlier, everythin’ okay?”

Rin looked at him, eyes wide, and his cheeks seemed to flush just a bit. He looked back down at his Meowth, and Ryuji almost regretted asking. “Yeah! Yeah, I, uh… it’s just, I had a family member who was, uh, involved in a Team Rocket incident here a while back. I was just rememberin’, is all.”

“Oh, okay,” Ryuji said, then immediately felt a little dumb for giving such a simplistic response to something that must have been hard for Rin to recall. “Sorry ‘bout that, I was just a lil worried.”

“No, it's cool!” Rin looked up at him, and despite the tension in his shoulders, there was no malice or anything in his eyes. “Thanks for askin’. I’m all cool.”

“Who’s cool?” Renzou asked, straightening up from the ground. Konekomaru stood beside him, equally curious. 

“Not you,” Ryuji snorted immediately, reaching a hand forward to tousle Renzou’s hair. He caught the grateful look Rin sent him as the action distracted Renzou enough to drag the two of them into a wrestling match, where Renzou laughed and poked at his stomach until Ryuji finally gave him a bit of mercy and released him from the headlock. Both Konekomaru and Rin were laughing along, and Ryuji was glad to see the last of Rin’s tension melting away.

“Well, now that you’re both done,” Konekomaru said, fighting down a grin. “It’s almost dark, so can we head into town?”

“Oh, right!” Renzou chirped. He finished putting his hair back into place and tugged his backpack further up on his back. “Let’s get goin’! I’m hungry!”

“Of course you are,” Ryuji muttered, ignoring the wounded look Renzou shot him as they started to trek into town. 

It was already late and growing dark, but there were still people milling about and lanterns lighting up the night, illuminating their path up to the Pokecenter. It was still open (and serving food, which Renzou was grateful to see), so they found a sequestered corner in the center to set up their sleeping bags. They were amongst the only trainers and travelers there, save for the various nurses and a backpacker who looked as if he’d been there for a day or two already. 

They made the unspoken decision to shove their sleeping bags so close together that it was practically a palette, squeezing close to each other as they ate their graciously gifted dinner. They traded stories of their travels, huddled up shoulder to shoulder. Ryuji was a little happy to find himself up next to Rin, and even more happy about the fact when Rin offered them a share of the candies he’d brought from his own home town. His proximity meant that he got first dibs, which worked out perfectly with how Rin had the bag of taffies by his side. 

When the Pokecenter nurses began to switch the lights off for night time, they pulled up their pokedexes to illuminate the dark room instead (though not enough to disturb the backpacker, of course). It felt extra mischievous to be talking at night and in the dark, so of course they ended up spending hours giggling and snickering amongst themselves.

Konekomaru was the first to fall asleep, and Renzou soon after him. They were both tired from training new partners, which left Rin and Ryuji alone once more. 

“I still can’t believe Renzou ran around town like that,” Rin giggled breathlessly, still in stitches after Konekomaru regaled them all with the tale of how Renzou had run through the town with underwear over his eyes. “I dunno how his parents didn’t just disown him!”

“Oh trust me, they were close,” Ryuji chuckled, looking up at the ceiling. Recalling the story made it much more hilarious— at the time, it had just been mortifying to be a known associate of ‘The Underwear Kid’. “Even Koneko and I were. We acted like we didn’t know him for a whole week, ‘till he cried and we all had to apologize. He never did it again, though.”

“Man, growin’ up in New Bark sounds like it was cool as hell,” Rin sighed, snuggling further into his sleeping bag. There was a tone of something like wistfulness in his voice, and it made Ryuji pause for just a moment where he might have normally carried on the conversation. He didn’t want to ask Rin about the well again, since the other teen didn’t seem to want to share, but he did have another question.

“Say, Rin, what’s that third pokeball you have?” he asked.

“Which one?”

He leaned up a bit, just to look at Rin a bit better. “When you were showin’ us your Meowth, I saw a third ball on your waist. Do you have another partner?”

“Oh, that?” Rin squeaked. His eyes were visibly wide, even in the darkness of the room, and he somehow seemed even more panicked than he had when Ryuji had asked him about the well. “It’s a, uh, it’s just a gift pokemon from my, uh, my dad! It’s an Unown, y’know, nothin’ really cool.”

[ Question him further? ]

It clearly was not an Unown at all, but Ryuji wasn’t a cruel guy. He chose not to, no matter how much curiosity bit at him.

“I get it,” he said, flopping back down onto his sleeping back. “I’d be embarrassed if my parents gave me an Unown, too. ‘Least it’s not as bad as this poor dude I saw with a Magikarp from his parents.”

Rin seemed to ease a bit at the change in conversation, letting out a little laugh. “Hey, don’t diss Magikarp. Those Gyarados will sneak up on you real fast.”

“If you have the patience to get ‘em that far,” Ryuji snorted. “A kid ain’t gonna get his Magikarp that far.”

“My brother did,” Rin said then, a little quieter.

Ryuji hesitated, and decided then that it was time to keep quiet. He didn’t know what could make Rin trip up over something as simple as mentioning his brother, but it clearly seemed to take Rin some time and effort to speak again. That was okay, Ryuji was fine with waiting.

“He took up this Magikarp when he was a little kid,” Rin continued, after a moment. “Trained him up for months, even years, and then when we were like, eleven or twelve, he finally got a Gyarados out of him. It scared the shit out of the both of us when it happened, y’know!”

“Your brother sounds like a cool guy,” Ryuji said. It was a neutral statement, one to goad Rin into speaking more.

And he did, a little bit. “He is! Way cooler than me, that’s for sure. He’s a genius when it comes to pokemon, y’know.”

Ryuji snickered, and Rin did, too. The conversation eased off after that, and neither of them made to fill in the silence, just resting quietly in the darkness of the Pokecenter. It was peaceful, and at some point, Rin’s breathing eased into the gentleness of sleep. 

It wasn’t much longer until Ryuji followed after him.

The rising of the sun the next day brought the promise of adventures to be had, and the boys were entirely too eager to chase the opportunities that a new town brought them. They decided against visiting the Slowpoke Well, but all agreed that they just absolutely had to go visit Kurt. He was the pokeball expert, after all, and they were incredibly eager to meet him. Thankfully, the older man was accepting visitors when they finally made it to his house. He was clearly aging and tired, but his eyes were still sharp with intelligence and wit.

“So, you wanna hear about my pokeball process, huh?” he declared to the four boys sitting before him. “Well, listen up, because I don’t like to repeat myself, alright?”

“Sir, yes sir!” Renzou chirped, and hid a snicker at Kurt’s reprimanding glare.

“Cheely,” Kurt muttered, but continued on anyway. “Well! It all starts with an apricot, you hear? The first part is to dry the thing out as much as possible! These apricots here aren’t like normal fruits— they won’t shrivel up when you dry ‘em. If you put ‘em out in the sun for just the right amount of time, they’ll harden right up! Then, you wanna crack them open…”

Ryuji listened on alongside Konekomaru, utterly enraptured by the process of turning apricots to pokeballs. They had known before that Kurt was loath to share his trade secrets, but his aging had changed his opinions, and they had heard tale that he was finally sharing his processes to anyone who was willing to listen. There were even rumors that it was because he was hoping for an apprentice to pick up his trade and carry it on for future generations. 

When the hours finally passed and Kurt had nothing more to tell them, the four boys left the house and stepped out into the cool night. A cold front was moving in, and so they were eager to return back to the Pokecenter and warm up before the chill could give them a cold. They chatted eagerly about what they had learned and made plans to try to make their own pokeballs during their travels, and to pick up as many apricots as they could to see how many types of pokeballs they could create. 

“I didn’t know there could even be so many types of pokeballs!” Rin laughed, looking at his collection of berries and apricots that had never seemed to hold so much promise before. 

“Right? It’s kind of incredible,” Konekomaru said, smiling softly. “I’m excited to see what all we can come up with. Which ones do you want to start with first?”

“Ah, maybe a green one?” Ryuji watched Rin’s brows draw together as he thought, his teeth dipping out to grab his lip in a thoughtful gesture. “I’d wanna give it to my brother! I think he’d like it, but blue might be better with his color scheme.”

“I think it’s worth a try,” Konekomaru said warmly.

They returned back to the Pokecenter soon enough, and from there, it was time to head to bed. They had a gym battle the next morning, after all!

* * *

Amaimon: Bellosom (level 17), Tangela (level 15), Sunkern (level 15)

**Author's Note:**

> Comments and criticisms are always appreciated!


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